It is well known that the cavitation in fluids may have useful applications, such as facilitating cell lysis and facilitating the breakdown and flocculation of contaminant particles in fluid so that the contaminants may be separated from the fluid by precipitation of the resulting flocs. However, it has proven difficult to produce a cavitation reactor that can produce cavitation on a commercially useful scale in which the metal components of the reactor are not rapidly damaged and rendered inoperable by the violently collapsing cavitation bubbles.
Cavitation reactors not subject to the above problems would be particularly useful for treating effluents to remove the waste matter in the form of sedimented sludge to recover clean water, and also for processing biomass for purposes of hydrolysis.